Sunday, March 9, 2008

Listed as a project in the guidebook, page 195, #17, is this line, which starts as for Haroun and the Sea of Stories, but climbs rightward and out the roof, per Bulging Grain (v7) and then right again along the lip of the boulder to finish on a blunt rib: a long and sustained problem in fact. It would be an amazing counterpart to Haroun if only it were more skin-friendly, but sadly it's extremely rough. It's been something I have thought of doing, and maybe someone has even done it before (?), but it was definitely climbed by Gabriele Moroni yesterday. He suggested it was about v9, though his compatriot friend said, "Maybe ... but it's harder than Haroun ..." so perhaps it's more like a v10, or so: Haroun is not as hard as originally thought and is definitely not the v12 given in the guide, but v9? That's going a bit too far. The once-project gets a lot of sun, so if you have rhino skin and can wait until evening to give it a go, let me know what you think.

Bishop Bouldering, 2nd Edition

"I got the Bishop Bouldering guide in the mail today. All I can say is WOW. Arguably the best looking guidebook I have ever seen. Almost a piece of art. Beautiful pictures, high quality construction -- truly awesome. Good job!" ... Tim Kemple, Pro Photographer.